Intranasal vaccine developer AuraVax Therapeutics said that the company has licensed liposomal STING agonist technology from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) for use as an adjuvant in vaccines against COVID-19 and other respiratory diseases. The technology was developed by MGH researcher Mei X. Wu.
AuraVax co-founder Navin Varadarajan commented, “We are delighted to be collaborating with MGH and Dr. Wu, who has developed a safe and potent adjuvant that can be intranasally delivered to augment the effectiveness of influenza vaccines. The intellectual property expands our portfolio to broadly target respiratory diseases from both a vaccine and therapeutic perspective. We plan to stop COVID-19, a respiratory virus, at its point of entry — the nasal cavity — as well as provide systemic protection. Our differentiated platform is based on STING agonists that we believe will lead to a vaccine with rapid protection and create sustained immunity to viral infections.”
Varadarajan added, “The urgent race for more effective ways of vaccinating against COVID-19 and other diseases has led to a broad and extensive focus on various protective mechanisms of action. Based on pre-clinical work, our approach not only elicits a mucosal immune response, but also systemic immunity. We believe AuraVax has a competitive advantage given the platform’s ability to generate localized and generalized immune responses and a technology that simplifies the supply chain, making it well-suited for widespread distribution and self-administration.”
Wu said, “Our laboratory has focused on improving and advancing the development of vaccines against infectious diseases to make them more effective, convenient, and safer. The immediate challenge presented by COVID-19 and the stunning science that has emerged related to the virus have enriched our knowledge about the immune response. There is evidence that triggering a mucosal immune response can evoke rapid and durable protection against pandemic viruses, such as SARS-CoV-2, and through this collaboration with AuraVax, we look forward to pursuing this approach.”
Read the AuraVax press release.
